In praise of Blake

[vilakins]

People have been making posts in praise of Blake, and there's a suggestion that we work our way through the crew after that. I thought I'd go in the order we meet them, so that's Blake, Vila, Jenna, Avon, Gan, Cally, Dayna, Tarrant, and Soolin.

Blake



Blake is an idealistic revolutionary, a good and honest man who genuinely cares for his crew of outcasts and criminals. Yes, he does let the cause run away with him at times (e.g. dealing with the Terra Nostra), but it's a damned good cause and one worth fighting for.

Blake’s liking for his crew is returned by them. He treats Vila with respect for his talents, complimenting him on occasion--and in his hearing--and obviously enjoys his humour, returning Vila’s banter with deadpan wit of his own. I love their interaction in "Seek-Locate-Destroy".

With Blake as leader, there was actually a chance they'd win. There was hope and direction. He might get impatient with people sometimes but to me there's no doubt that he gave a damn for them all.

Although I disagreed with his original plan to destroy Star One, I missed him a lot when he left. Big cause, big sleeves, and big heart.

Comments

[ultrapsychobrat.livejournal.com]

What a beautiful view of Blake! He was everything you said, and I missed him so much in the two years he was gone. I think the whole ambiance changed to one of depression and hopelessness. While Blake was by no means perfect, he tried to hold things together (not always succeeding, but trying).

Oh, goodie--Vils next week!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. And that's why I like S1 and S2 best (and still can't bear to watch "Blake").

[muscadinegril.livejournal.com]

I agree. This is how I feel about Blake too.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It's such a pity GT wanted to leave.

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

This is a very true and beautiful view of Blake, yes, I agree fully.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I miss him even more going through the misery of season 4 for the rewatch. :-(

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

And because I have read enough about that misery, I will never watch season 4. I still haven´t watched S3 although I bought it a year ago. Without Blake, the series lost its charm for me.

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

I've actually seen fanfic where Blake is portrayed as a manipulator, and that annoyed me. People are willing to do things for Blake even when they think they don't really want to, but that is not because he's a manipulator; it's because they respect him. Anyone who can't tell the difference shouldn't be writing fanfic involving Blake, frankly.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I've read all sorts of interpretations of the characters. In some cases I suppose the authors were playing--I write one fic in which bounty-hunter Blake wasn't the Blake we knew--but some do like to character-bash.

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

THIS

Blake could be annoying at times but then so could Vila (not to mention the others) and we all know I love Vila. :-)I didn't appreciate Blake much until he was gone and then I was surprised how much I missed him.

I can't wait to see Vila's next week.

Also: I'm got persuaded into joining Punkispurple's rpg set in a made up steampunky world. I am a firework maker/inventor,not an aristocrat or sky pirate like the rest of them. *eyeroll* The character has her Vila-esque moments. "Bet you didn't know I could spell mendacious."

*glomp*

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, Vila made me want to slap him at times. I like that all the characters are so multi-faceted.

Yay for not being an aristocrat! All the fantasy that's about blue-bloods drives me crazy, even Tamora Pierce's feminist stuff; I was delighted to meet her Beka Cooper from the slums. And steampunk is for the win!

Awww, baby Ashley!

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

Aww, a Vila icon I can't remember seeing before. Shiny!

Yeah, George was my favourite character in Tamora Pierce's books, then Numair and Aly and Neal. I liked the first Beka Cooper book but found the second dragged a bit.

ahahah it does look like Ashley. Your kitties are the cutest.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

It's fairly new, from sallymn. :-)

I liked George too; I'm still getting to know Numair because I wasn't that keen on reading about immortals demi-god characters. I read the first Aly book and enjoyed it because I've been to Indonesia and she based the Copper Isles so obviously on that, but it was so full of references to immortal creatures and Numair and Daine I decided I would read the Immortals after all. I've just read the second one, Wolf Speaker, which was rather slow to start but the last half was good. I've been spoiled for who Daine is or I'd like her more, but I fear incipient Mary-Sue-ness. At least there's a hint that Stormwings aren't all bad, and the next one looks interesting from the excerpt.

The second Beka book was far too long. I also got distracted by all the Indonesian used as dog commands; make up your own language, Tamora!

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

The first of the Immortals books was a big cheerup book for me a few years ago but the others were only okay IMO. Also for reasons I can't tell you which are spoilery. Numair has that absent minded quirkyness which is subtlely amusing.

George is a thief too. I am sooo predictable. :-)

The Trickster books are probably my favourite. I wish they were more standalone because then I could recc them to more people.

I didn't like Kel's plotline much. She did everything too perfectly. Sigh. I enjoyed the glimpses of the older characters such as Raoul and Buri though.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I did pick up that Numair is a rather geeky type of wizard. I like when someone zapped him and he basically said with interest, "Do that again so I can try out another defence". I just know how Daine will turn out and that they'll get together (from the Trickster book) so that's spoiled it a bit for me. The next one looks as if it's got an interesting setting though.

But yes, George is a rogue and The Rogue! We have similar tastes there. :-D

I did enjoy the first Trickster book (apart from predestined royalty, eyeroll) esp because I know those landscapes and people. It was so annoying that people and reatures kept popping up that I didn't know that I'm going to have to read the intervening books to catch up. Which means the Keladry one. All I know about her is that she's a lady knight and very tall and a protector of the small. BTW it's so sad seeing the equality of the Beka books starting to be eroded by idiots male and female. How on earth did the lady knights go along with it? Sabine certainly wouldn't. Anyway, I hope the next one is a bit less of a door-stop.

[emerald-happy.livejournal.com]

HOMG I love Sabine/Tunstall and totally ship them. SQUEE! Lady knights and cross social class relationships FTW! Ahem. I had a huge girl crush on Sabine the moment she walked into the book and Tunstall is works so well with the more scary Goodwin.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Sabine is great! I love her relationship with Tunstall, also those between the Dogs and Rats. Things are much more complex and less B&W than in the earlier books.